Monday
Jul122010
Why Are the Same Blogs Nominated Every Year?
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 10:00AM
The short answer to this question could be because people vote for them every year. And believe me, this is something we have been aware of for a while now.
Popular blogs are popular. We introduced the judging panel and the Black Weblog Awards Hall of Fame to counteract this. The Hall of Fame particularly does this by taking blogs which have won over the years to be "retired" for a particular category.
Nominees are a different story. They are chosen by the public and voted on by the public. So if the question is "why are the same blogs nominated every year", then the bigger question is "why are you only nominating the same blogs"? The finalists are selected from the top 3-5 most nominated blogs, and the rest of the blogs just didn't receive enough nominations to make it to the finalist round. It's the classic long tail phenomenon. See the graph below.
So while there may have been blogs of better quality (which is totally subjective) that are not finalists, it still boils down to popularity for the popular vote. And that popularity is based on those voters who have nominated blogs. (The way we choose categories is also tangentially related to this; the more people vote in a particular category, the better chances are of it coming back next year. Check this post for more info.)
If your blog (or a blog you liked) wasn't a finalist, ask these questions:
I hope this helps clear up any ambiguity. Comments?
This post was suggested via Skribit. Have something you want us to discuss? Click the "Suggestions" box in the top right section of this page and let us know!
Popular blogs are popular. We introduced the judging panel and the Black Weblog Awards Hall of Fame to counteract this. The Hall of Fame particularly does this by taking blogs which have won over the years to be "retired" for a particular category.
Nominees are a different story. They are chosen by the public and voted on by the public. So if the question is "why are the same blogs nominated every year", then the bigger question is "why are you only nominating the same blogs"? The finalists are selected from the top 3-5 most nominated blogs, and the rest of the blogs just didn't receive enough nominations to make it to the finalist round. It's the classic long tail phenomenon. See the graph below.
So while there may have been blogs of better quality (which is totally subjective) that are not finalists, it still boils down to popularity for the popular vote. And that popularity is based on those voters who have nominated blogs. (The way we choose categories is also tangentially related to this; the more people vote in a particular category, the better chances are of it coming back next year. Check this post for more info.)
If your blog (or a blog you liked) wasn't a finalist, ask these questions:
- Did the blog owner know they were nominated? Even though we've been doing this for six years, there's still a lot of bloggers who have never heard of the BWAs. If you nominated a blog, do the blog owner a solid and e-mail them to let them know.
- Did the blog owner campaign hard enough for votes? Good content speaks for itself, but it can be hard to find and even harder to market depending on your methods.
- Did the blog owner want to win? We have had people boycott their nominations in the past.
I hope this helps clear up any ambiguity. Comments?
This post was suggested via Skribit. Have something you want us to discuss? Click the "Suggestions" box in the top right section of this page and let us know!
Reader Comments (7)
Why are the same blogs nominated every year? Read about some of our observations and give us your answers! http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT
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RT @blkweblogawards: Why are the same blogs nominated every year? Read about some of our observations and give us your answers! http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/msladysoul/statuses/18457688575" rel="nofollow">Twitter
Why are the same blogs nominated every year? Read about some of our observations – http://bit.ly/azOs3l" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/azOs3l (via @blkweblogawards)
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/sheatsb/statuses/18457744839" rel="nofollow">Twitter
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Black Weblog Awards. Black Weblog Awards said: Why are the same blogs nominated every year? Read about some of our observations and give us your answers! http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT [...]
They deserve it if they keep appearing RT @blkweblogawards: Why are the same blogs nominated every year? http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/fb/zbKRT
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/MsAfropolitan/statuses/18460191402" rel="nofollow">Twitter
Why are the same blogs nominated every year? Read about some of our observations – http://bit.ly/azOs3l" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/azOs3l
This comment was originally posted on http://twitter.com/blkweblogawards/statuses/18699724447" rel="nofollow">Twitter
Nominate us>Why are the same blogs nominated every year? Read about some of our observations -http://bit.ly/azOs3l (via @blkweblogawards)
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